Saturday, February 13, 2010

6 NATIONS RUGBY: Scotland v Wales

13.02.2010Scotland v Wales in Cardiff (6 Nations)

Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)

Venue: Millennium Stadium

PreviewBoth Scotland and Wales lost their first 6 Nations International Championship rugby games in the first round last weekend. Whoever loses this game will almost certainly be out of Championship title contention.

Both sides have also lost their way in the past few months. Scotland were bullied in the forwards by France last week and find winning at Cardiff difficult whilst the loss of Nathan Hines will limit an already limited forward pack. The return of Euan Murray will be a blessing.

Wales allowed silly, costly errors to let their game slip away against England last week. Where is that mighty team that won the 2005 Grand Slam? The controversy over on open roof request by the canny Scots may well be a blessing if the Welsh fans show their displeasure if Wales lose.

The prospect of two struggling sides clashing will be of interest although I suspect the quality of play will be limited by both the weather and of both teams ability to player powerful rugby. This could be a close, dull contest.

MilestonesChrist Paterson will make Scottish rugby history by being the first Scotsman to play 100 tests. He will become the 13th player to reach the 100 tests milestone. His three penalty goals last week gave him a total of 750 test points for Scotland, the leading Scottish test point scorer. His 750 points places him in 11th place for all time world rugby test point scorers. His 22 tries places him at the head of the list of test try scorers for Scotland.Richard Gray made his test debut for Scotland off the bench last weekend v France.